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AIMA has a long experience designing particle therapy equipments. In the recent years AIMA proposed the S2C2™, the brand new IBA superconducting synchrocyclotron for protontherapy.

S2C2™ Prototype

Outstanding collaboration between AIMA and IBA

A cooperation aiming at an industrial new accelerator for proton therapy :

IBA, world leader for proton therapy equipments

Since the first classical isochronous cyclotron delivered to Massachussetts General Hospital in Boston, IBA has installed more than 30 facilities i.e. about over half of all proton therapy clinical centers worldwide

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The present fast growing market of protontherapy

- The growth of Proton therapy centers and projects is now in full swing because it is now widely recognised as an affective treatment modality

- New comers are arriving: MeVIon, ProNova, VARIAN, HITACHI, etc.

How to cope with the challenge ?

There is an urgent need of new designs which should be:

- more compact (IBA previous design accelerator is a 235 Tons magnet isochronous cyclotron), easier to install in a scaled-down building

- more cost effective.

- less demanding in energy

The answer: the S2C2™

S2C2™ is an acronym proposed by AIMA DEVELOPPEMENT: it simply stands for « Superconducting Synchrocyclotron »

- A simple and robust cryogenic system is required. The S2C2™ prototype installed in Nice is fed by 5 time less power from the grids than the present IBA classical cyclotron.

- in contrast with classical cyclotrons Synchrocyclotrons are able to operate with much higher magnetic field, which results in a compact 50 tons magnet

- Based on preliminary design studies carried out by AIMA DEVELOPPEMENT(AD), IBA decides to develop the final conceptual design of the industrial prototype in september 2009 in collaboration with AD in view of the construction of the S2C2 equipped with a more compact gantry. The whole system is now commercialised by IBA under the generic name ProteusOne®

Three partners for the S2C2™ prototype in Nice

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IBA

- Finances the Final Conceptual Design and configure the whole protontherapy to match the requirements of an oncology facility, including maintenance and services.

- Brings its experience and expertise in the industrialization process of cyclotron and gantry subsystems

AIMA DEVELOPPEMENT (AD)

AD has developped the Preliminary Conceptual Design of the S2C2™ and was involved in most of detailed design studies of important key-components:

- Injection and capture process of the proton bucket

- Magnet design (cryogenic system studied and realized by ASG).

- Extraction system studies.

- preliminary design of the RF line (AD was not involved in the Power Amplifier and in the final design of the rotating condenser).

- an ion source test stand and AD has produced the prototype of the ion source of S2C2™ , in close collaboration with CAL technical staff.

- most of the studies carried out by AD were under contract with IBA. The dedicated synchrocyclotron softwares tools are the full property of AD. Besides AD is involved in the commissioning & maintenance program of the prototype.

Centre Antoine Lacassagne (CAL)

- With the home made MEDICYC 65 MeV Cyclotron CAL is the historical 1er protontherapy center in France. CAL has chosen the IBA prototype for its new high energy protontherapy program.

- The technical expertise of the personnel of the Cyclotron Laboratory of CAL who has designed and built MEDICYC has been considered as an asset by IBA to install the S2C2™ .

AIMA Protontherapy beam lines

AIMA designs beam lines for spot scanning protontherapy

In order to fully benefit from its S2C2™ based facility, the CAL decided to extend its hig energy protontherapy center with 2 additionnals fixed lines: One for R&D purposes in the framework of the 'France Hadron' prodject, the other for further extension to a second treatment room. AIMA has already designed all the elements of these beam lines, completing therapeutic beams requirements.